Rage, pain, the living a crow's enigma
by c-wolf
Summary: An x-menThe Crow. I'm not good at summaries. new chapter
1. Default Chapter

This is an X-men evolution/Crow crossover. However, there are differences... I'm throwing a couple of details from the Crow series right out the window to make this possible. This does not change the fact that I love the series.  
  
Pyro, as usual, was enjoying making his flames dance. Sabretooth on the other hand, was roaring every time they got near him. He was currently treed up a light pole. Magneto came along and punched Pyro just hard enough to bring him out of his dementia. Then the X-men attacked, and drove them away.  
  
On the other side of Bayville, a more serious situation was taking place.  
  
- - - - -  
  
She was a Morlock. Her mutant ability had created a sort of amnesia, so she could no more tell anyone her name than she could her ability. The only reason she had been taken in was because Caliban sensed her mutation. Being at least close enough to normal looking, to use makeup in order to walk through the streets, she had been asked to get some food. In the process, she discovered a deli for her to work at that didn't care if she had ID or not. Now the Morlocks had a little bit of money coming in to them each month. Since, for them, it was easier to take food rather than buy it, this was the equivalent of the lottery. The young ones got to have birthdays and presents for the first time, generally one toy of their choice and a cake per year. But then, they'd never got presents before, so this was considered to be greedy in their minds. They enjoyed every minute of it.  
  
While working, she had met an interesting person, who she later found out was a mutant. He called himself St. John, and was apparently slightly loopy. However, she felt safe around him and continued their conversations. After telling her one night what his ability was, and discovering she wasn't scared, he started keeping her entertained. After all this was the first person who had taken the images he constantly saw and put into flame, as art rather than something to fear. Despite, in the words of Magneto, being a few quarts low on oil, it still hurt him a little to be feared by those he'd never attacked. So, when not on a mission, Magneto would allow him to visit his friend. It was mostly to get the insane maniac out of his hair. Yet, with that in mind, a part of him understood Pyro's need. So Magneto gave St. John the money to spend at the deli. He even understood the need of the Morlocks, and did not try to recruit Joanna, the name she decided on. As long as the X-men left her alone, there weren't any problems.  
  
As for Pyro the voices were stilled when he was around her. The images he imagined belonged to the voices, stayed. She liked seeing them though, so that was ok. In his way, it was like introducing his girlfriend to his parents for the first time.  
  
- - - - -  
  
Joanna had just finished her till, and was in the back counting the money before leaving for the day. The second shift was putting his drawer in. Three men walked into the store, and drew guns.  
  
"The money, now."  
  
Joanna was still in the back counting the money, when she heard the words. As she pressed the silent alarm, she heard gunshots and screams. Then one of the gunmen ran in. He saw that she'd already pressed the button. Rather than allow her to report what he looked like, he shot her 5 times then grabbed the till and ran out. They got away before the police arrived. Joanna lay bleeding on the floor, still conscious. Her last thoughts were of her nutty friend, who she had admitted falling in love with, but never to him. Hopefully Caliban would look through her things, and find the letter she never got the courage to give.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
His screams of pain and rage woke up the rest of the Acoloytes. When they ran out of the bedrooms, they saw Pyro standing in a circle of flame. The letter had been thrown outside of it. Thinking he was trying to die, they attempted to get at him. Creed, in an uncharacteristic act, leaped through and out the other side with St. John in his arms. Then he proceeded to cuss him out for being stupid. Meanwhile, Magneto had started reading the letter.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
The crow, for the first time, was at a loss. The soul wasn't mad, in fact she had forgiven the gunmen before she died. In fact, she was on her way into the light, to see the One Father over all races. Her only concern was for her love, that he would continue to live in the harmony he'd managed to establish in his chaotic head. Wrongs had to be righted, vengeance justified, but who could deny the peace she had? This was annoying to say the least. Until it found a way, the crow could not move to the next mission. Then it noticed something unique... the souls love who was thought to be crazy, and indeed was, nevertheless occasionally heard voices that were not his imagination. The crow had no idea how it could make use of someone who was alive, but if it could be done... 


	2. It begins

(I'm going to take a character that I've seen in many Crow stories, and give him a cameo. I don't know if he was created in novels, or if he's only appeared in fanfiction and nowhere else. I liked him, what can I say. Can't remember the titles off the top of my head though.)  
  
He was called many things in life. But the name he liked best was Skull Cowboy. He'd been the first Crow, yet he never really rested. Helping the others stay on track was his calling now, up to and including intervening occasionally if a living person tried to stop destiny. This would continue to hold true, even though the new Crow was still alive.  
  
- - - - - - - - -  
  
Charles woke up to a mental scream of anguish. It didn't last long enough for him to track, almost as if someone had put up shields. Magneto was probably at the center of it. He got into his wheelchair, and rolled toward Cerebro. On his way, a figure stepped into his path.  
  
"Sorry Charley, this is one situation you don't have any authority over. Go back to sleep and forget it."  
  
Xavier steepled his fingers, and stared at the person. The fact that he looked like a skeleton in Leather coat, black shirt, and leather pants, complete with a cowboy hat did not faze him. It was always possible that someone else had an image inducer after all. "Interesting. You are?" he asked, while trying to read the individual's mind.  
  
"Scan away. You won't find anything. The dead don't need shields. By the way, tell feral guy behind me that he'll be an interesting addition to the Statue of Liberty's Torch." The cowboy grinned nastily."  
  
At the same time that the fight between the X-men and the Skull Cowboy was taking place, the Brotherhood were sleeping in bed. Dead to the world, thanks to the knockout drugs that had been snuck into the feast that appeared magically before them. Skull Cowboy took his missions seriously, but at least he took care of the semi-innocent as well as the innocent. Only the Acoloytes were the exception this time... they had decided for vengeances sake, to find the killers of Pyro's girl. He let them be.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Magneto had already heard earlier about Joanna from the news reports earlier. Pyro had gone to bed after hearing it... and the tendency in his team was to back off unless asked, so they all went to sleep. The letter changed things. Eric heard a crow. When he looked up, he saw a large black one clinging to the rafters. It cawed again, and flew down to Pyro's shoulder. Sabretooth looked dumbstruck, and didn't say anything other than "Wha..."  
  
Pyro had a glazed look in his eyes, some of it from crying. His sanity, which used to hold on barely, was losing it's grip. She was his lifeline, his world. Then he felt something land on his shoulder. Turning his head, he was right on line with the crow's eyes. His face got hard, and angry. Sabretooth lost his dumbstruck look, and started backing away. "Flappy here told me that 5 bangs from one gun does not equal the exact number under the sun." Pyro grinned nastily. "Maybe I ought to learn some math."  
  
Gambit looked at him then Magneto. "He's a fruit loop."  
  
Magneto stared, and thought. "Something tells me that's not true this time."  
  
Pyro looked up. "It's time to burn number one, and see what his chewy center looks like." He laughed crazily and got up.  
  
"Need help?" Magneto asked, glaring at the rest of the team. They all hastily stood up and looked toward the crazy pyromaniac.  
  
"Thanks mates. I might need it. Though Flappy seems to think I can heal from anything right now, and lift a few things." He laughed again. "Wonder if I can juggle ostriches." He started walking toward the spheres followed by the Acoloytes.  
  
Magneto didn't like pain. And whatever it took to take Pyro's away, he would. Short of killing him. He was amusing to have around on bad days, and a great asset on good days. Annoying as heck most the time though. Eric just hoped Charles wouldn't decide to interfere like he usually did  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Carlos had separated from his companions after the robbery. The takings hadn't been much, but the last robbery still held them in good stead. He went to the grocery store and shopped. On his way home, he happened to look up and saw what looked like silver spheres flying overhead. Then he heard a "CAW". Looking around, he saw a crow on one of the light poles, staring at him. "Quit glaring at me you feathered freak." He said, laughing, then continued home.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
The spheres landed behind an abandoned building. The acoloytes got out, and then they all turned to Pyro. "His name is Carlos. He's this way." Pyro started walking toward the street, and turned right. 


	3. The past

As he and the team followed Pyro, Magneto remembered the last time a Crow came into his life.  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
Erik had been gathering his team for awhile, when he heard about some weird occurrences in Los Angeles. Rumors of a man being shot, yet continuing to live and of the same man killing the ones who shot him in painful ways.  
  
Erik decided to go and try to find the mutant. If he couldn't convince him to join, he'd stop him. It wouldn't do for people to try and kill mutants before he was ready for the world to know they existed.  
  
- - - - - - - - - -  
  
The police shook their heads at yet another sign of a giant bird. This one ringed a wrecked car in flames, with a burning body imbedded in the wall where it had impacted. They couldn't get to it yet to take it away. The stench of burning flesh was making them sick.  
  
Magneto watched from a nearby roof, as firetrucks attempted to put the flames out. They were succeeding with the car, but the bird was still going strong. The mutant was more powerful than he had originally realized, and he was on a killing spree. Magneto sighed. It looked like he'd have to save the idiot non-mutants. Why he bothered sometimes, he didn't know.  
  
- - - - - - - - - -  
  
His name was a memory he'd rather not have. It was hard enough remembering how his wife screamed as they hurt her over and over again. Remembering as he lay there bleeding to death from the stab wounds and the broken bones that prevented him from crawling much less standing. All he could do was watch. Then they shot her and him. It was almost over however. Only the last two remaining members of the gang to kill and then he could join her. He and the crow were too focused on the task at hand to notice the figure in red armor following them. He grinned nastily.  
  
- - - - - - - - -  
  
The two remaining had surrounded themselves with hired help. As they sat around the table, their enemy crashed through the skylight. They fired. He dodged, and started ripping through them. He didn't notice how some of the bullets seemed to turn toward him.  
  
Magneto tried his hardest, but it looked like he'd have to step in personally. Then he heard one of the gang members speak, and it changed him.  
  
"We killed you! You shouldn't have come back from that!" The leader said, laughing maniaclly. He'd lost his mind thanks to the stress.  
  
"You hurt my love, my heart."  
  
"She was sweet."  
  
Magneto heard those words and the ones that followed... now he knew. The leader's screams filled the night, as Magneto remembered his mother's screams as she and his father were taken away from him many years ago in Germany. He remembered, and flew away.  
  
Only later did he find out about the legend of the crow. Then he truly understood. It wasn't a mutant, it was vengeance. He swore to himself that when the war did come, he would only kill those who were soldiers against him. And their deaths would be quick. The last thing he needed was to see his actions set in the eyeballs of the face of vengeance. The one question he asked himself was "Does it only happen to the dead?"  
  
- - - - - - - - - -  
  
Magneto came back to himself as they neared the apartment. Then he looked at Sabretooth. "When you carried him away from the flames, was he still alive?"  
  
Creed looked at him strangely. "Yes. Why do you ask?"  
  
"I'll tell you later."  
  
Pyro ripped the outside door to the apartment off, and stalked in. Screams filled the night. 


	4. The hunt

(Sorry it took so long to update. For some odd reason, while I was able to write other things, I had writers block on this)

He ripped the door off the hinges, while the Acoloytes watched in silence. Rage and grief had combined into one gigantic weight on his heart. A shotgun blast hit him, then another. He grinned and ran inside.

"What are you?!" asked the man with a scraggily beard as he backed into a corner.

"I'm Joanna's love! She accepted me for all I was!" Pyro screamed as he started slamming the man over and over into the wall. "You shot her! You took her from me! I want the rest of the bastards!" Then he paused as the crow flew in and landed on his shoulder. He looked down at the semi-conscious person. Then he grinned, "Oooh... flappy says I can open the door to your mind." And placed his hands on the man's head.

Images slammed into him as he screamed. He saw not only Joanna, but the others as well. His anger grew. Then he saw Carlos's friends. "Ah, so that's where they are." He cackled as he imbedded Carlos deep into the wall, and set him and it on fire. Then he walked out with the acoloytes in tow. The body was rimmed by the form of a crow in flames. It took several hours for the house to burn down despite efforts of the fire department. Nothing else was touched by the flames.

* * *

Randall had just taken his girlfriend home, and was speeding through downtown toward Carlos. As he neared, firetrucks were passing him. When he got there, he gawked at the flames. As he stood behind the crowd and watched, a crow flew cawing over his head.

Two of the police on the scene, turned and drew their weapons when they heard the scream. All they saw was a black Porsche with racing stripes on either side. Whoever had screamed was gone. They looked at each other and started walking slowly toward the alleyway nearby. Upon entering, the sight that came into focus caused a lot of retching.

The morgue had a field day that night trying to clean up the parts. The police meanwhile, sifted through different spots in the alley. They hoped to find a clue as to how the killer had killed someone that fast, then arranged the blood and body pieces in the form of a bird with wings spread wide. One officer said it looked like a crow. However, nobody paid attention to him as he was a rookie.

* * *

"Two more mates, then I can rest."

Sabertooth had actually been sickened slightly by what Pyro had done to the last one. It was a surprise to him.

Gambit shuffled his cards to hide his nervousness.

Colossus was stoic as ever.

Magneto was wondering why Charles hadn't interfered yet. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Looking up, he stopped and stared with his mouth wide open. Logan was flying through the air, snarling all the way as he flailed his limbs.

* * *

Xavier stared at the hole in the ceiling, as the fight continued. Skull Cowboy glanced over as he backhanded Beast out the window and into the pool. "Don't worry, he won't die. It'll just take him a few hours to dig his claws out of the torch." 


	5. Finality and continuances

Pyro walked back to the orbs. "Flappy says we need to fly."

Magneto sighed. "Where to?"

Pyro looked back while grinning maniacally. "The other side of town, where else?"

When they landed, it was in a neighborhood that was vaguely familiar.

Gambit blinked. "Isn't that Kelly's house?"

Pyro glanced around. "Yes, but Flappy says the one's we're after are two blocks that way." He pointed down the street.

Magneto sent the orbs away then they continued down the street. Mastermind kept up a constant image projection so people wouldn't try to stop them.

When they arrived, it was to a drunken party on its last legs. Most everyone was passed out in the hallways.

Magneto looked around as they walked in. "Well?"

Pyro walked over to one and flipped him over. "There's one." He tied him up and tossed him toward Sabertooth who caught him. "No sense waking up the sleepy heads. They'll need it when the police get here in 30 minutes. Now where's the Sheila?"

Flappy cawed and flew up the stairs. "Ah, there she is."

Sabertooth stood watch while everyone else went upstairs.

Megan had just gotten finished getting high, and drunk… it wasn't a good combination. Not to mention the fact that she was just realizing one of the men in the party had taken advantage of that. She vaguely remembered enjoying it, but it was still irritating. Then the bedroom door slammed open. She blinked.

The guy she was with started to wake up.

Pyro looked down and shook his head. Then he tossed the drunk guy against a wall, knocking him out again.

She screamed as he started tightly wrapping her up in the blankets and slung her over his shoulder.

"Mastermind?"

Mastermind shrugged and concentrated. She passed out.

Magneto looked around. "Where too?"

"Flappy says that first we get the one below awake and screaming, then we get the lady to confess. She didn't pull the trigger, so she doesn't deserve death."

"Ok."

The crow pointed out everything that was left of what had been stolen, then they lugged the man back to the spheres and on to the shop where everything had started.

-- - - - -- - -

Frankie woke up and looked around. "Wha…"

Pyro grinned at him from behind a mask when he looked down. "Hello Wabbit."

"What do you want man?"

"You killed my girl. The only one that loved me for who I am." Pyro gestured around. "In here to be exact."

Frankie looked around, and his eyes got wide. "What are you on?!"

"Nothing but grief…. Maaan." He looked around once more. As he did, Megan woke up where she leaned against Sabertooth who also wore a mask. She opened her mouth. Pyro put his hand over it.

He put a finger to his lips. "Shhh, just in case a friend doesn't clear your mind of a lot of this, you can't see our faces. Just be thankful that you actually wanted them to spare lives. Of course, Flappy still thinks that you need some punishment." Pyro grinned at her as she stared in fear. "So let me show you why you should confess."

Pyro put his hands to her head, and sent the memories of all the ones that had been killed into her mind. She tried to scream behind Sabertooth's hand then she passed out.

He shook her head. "If she doesn't agree to confess by tomorrow, I'll make them stronger. Take her away"

Magneto and the rest walked out as Pyro took off his mask and turned around.

"Here, let me show you what I showed her."

Pyro walked around the stolen items and out the door as Frankie screamed on the desk in the office. Then he lit his lighter and sent flames back to the gasoline on the desk. The crow had already said that the store would not burn down. He believed it.

Behind him, the flames wreathed Frankie in the shape of a crow.

Pyro cackled sadly as they all walked to the spheres and left. "Home again, Home again, jiggedy jogg…."

It wasn't until the fire department soaked it in water, that the flames went out. They were unable to explain why it continued to burn without fuel or spreading.

- - - - - -

Everyone at the mansion groaned as they lay in various places. Skull Cowboy looked at Xavier. "Well, your feral friend probably needs a ride. Once someone is well enough to drive, send him a van or something. As for why I was distracting you, it's over." He picked his hat up from the ground, put it on his head, and vanished.

Logan snarled as he struggled to get his claws out of the top of the torch.

Pyro stood at the new base, at the top of a large hill. The crow sat on his shoulder. He heard something and turned around. Joanna walked out of the trees.

She put her hand on his face, and they kissed. Then she said a few words.

"The best thing I love about you is your refusal to let life get you down. Don't try to hurry toward me, time won't pass where I am." She kissed him again as tears came out of his eyes. Then she vanished. The crow cawed and flew away. Behind it, a tree gained a type of rare phosphorescent moss out of nowhere. Each night, a woman's figure could be seen in the glow. People came from miles around to look and wonder at a tree that would not die or sag no matter how old it got. Only the acoloytes saw it at night, once a year, when they came to visit.

Megan turned herself into the police. Because of her age, and the fact that there was a female seen running out without a gun, she was given a year in juvenile. After getting out she received counseling, and two years of public service.

Pyro continued to annoy the X-men with his art. She loved it, why shouldn't they?

(Sorry for the long wait for the chapter, and thanks for sticking with me.)


End file.
